Mixed Reactions for Local Groups on President’s Jerusalem Recognition

ST. LOUIS (KMOX) – Local reaction to President Trump recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

The executive director of the Missouri chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations, Faizan Syed, calls it a dangerous move.

“I believe that the Trump administration is making a huge mistake, undermining decades of US policy towards that region, and they’re doing this deliberately to perhaps create destabilization in that part of the world,” he says.

The President and CEO of the Jewish Federation of St. Louis, Andrew Rehfeld, welcomes the move.

“We’ve called for international recognition of this, and at a deep place in our heart it brings a lot of satisfaction, to bring that recognition and international recognition,” he says.

But Rehfeld says one of his big concerns is the likely increase of violence that now may follow.